from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – OVER 1,8 million children in Nigeria are at risk of death from an escalating severe acute malnutrition (SAM) crisis.
New data collected by Nigeria Red Cross Society (NRCS), indicates 84 percent of healthcare facilities in six northern states reported insufficient stocks of lifesaving ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF).
In addition, many key partners are having to withdraw or halt their programming due to funding cuts.
The United Nations is closing half of its health clinics in northeast Nigeria, where insurgency by Islamist groups is worsening the crisis.
States like Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara in the northwest have been facing an emergency for years.
Alongside alarming SAM statistics reported in Katsina and Sokoto, are concerning moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) figures. In Maradun, Zamfara, 48,5 percent of children are suffering from MAM.
The Red Cross warns that without improved community-level surveillance and monitoring of MAM cases, the burden placed on local healthcare services, without the appropriate facilities to treat SAM, will be insurmountable.
“Without additional support hundreds, if not thousands, of children will needlessly die of malnutrition in coming months,” said Francis Salako, Red Cross Head of the Abuja delegation.
He said the fact that, in some local government areas, around 50 percent of children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and need to be hospitalised to survive, is alarming.
“We need to raise the alarm immediately. Things are going to get worse,” Salako warned.
SAM is a critical health condition in children characterized by extreme weight loss and/or swelling due to inadequate nutrition. It significantly increases the risk of death and is often associated with infections and other complications.
– CAJ News